Hong Leong Finance sees over 300% growth in EV loans
[SINGAPORE] Hong Leong Finance (HLF) announced that it has seen a more than 300 per cent increase in electric vehicle (EV) loans, from S$73 million in 2023 to S$314 million in 2024.
Besides EV loans, HLF also saw a more than 300 per cent increase in vehicle loans processed digitally, from S$99 million in 2023 to S$400 million in 2024. This was on the back of its new digital platform which connected with major car dealers directly for automotive financing.
This new system eliminated the manual paper-based system and redundant data entry. The integration with GovTech's MyInfo, the Singapore government's data management platform, also reduced errors and access to verified personal data.
HLF is planning to introduce new capabilities that will enable car dealers to offer online car markets.
'Our innovative digital platform for vehicle loans has proven to be a game changer, offering speed and security for both car dealers and customers,' said Ang Tang Chor, president of HLF.

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AsiaOne
7 days ago
- AsiaOne
In-store navigation and personalised recommendations: FairPrice trials smart trolleys in pilot plan to integrate AI, Singapore News
FairPrice Group (FPG) has revealed plans for a large-scale technology overhaul with its Store of Tomorrow programme that aims to revolutionise the retail experience for customers at their supermarket outlets. According to a press release on Tuesday (June 3), FPG has already begun piloting various digital solutions, such as Smart Carts and digital price cards at one of its FairPrice Finest outlets. "The last few years of global disruption have shown that the only certainty in retail is how quickly consumer needs, tastes, and preferences evolve," said Vipul Chawla, Group CEO of FPG, adding that FPG aims to trial more than 20 new digital solutions within the next three years. The new initiatives will be launched in FPG's Punggol Digital District FairPrice Finest outlet, set to open in August 2025. They will then be gradually rolled out to FPG's 164 FairPrice supermarkets, and eventually, across the Group's wider network of over 570 touchpoints. Smart Carts Currently piloted at FairPrice Finest Sengkang Grand Mall, Smart Carts are shopping carts with built-in displays that can support customers with in-store navigation and highlight promotions for nearby products. Smart Carts can also provide product recommendations and feature scanners that customers can use to scan and pay for products as they go. To use a Smart Cart, customers will have to scan the Pay/Earn QR code on their FPG App. Customers can then use the Smart Cart's display function to search for specific products, which will yield a map and directions to guide them to the product's location in-store. Shoppers can also use the built-in scanner on the trolley's handlebar to add items to their digital checkout basket. Smart Carts will also have their own designated checkout area, where customers can apply relevant vouchers and make payment through the FPG app. MyInfo integration & biometric payment FPG also aims to streamline the checkout process by integrating the FPG app with the government MyInfo database on citizens and permanent residents. By doing so, customers eligible for discount schemes — CHAS Blue/Orange, Seniors, Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation — will have their discounts applied automatically to their purchases. Eliminating the need for physical card verification simplifies the checkout process and helps reduce time spent by staff on verifying customer details. FPG is also attempting to further enhance the checkout process by implementing biometric payment. By scanning and registering their palm prints to the FPG app, customers will eventually be able to make payment and earn LinkPoints by scanning their palms at checkout counters. Digital price cards Also being piloted at FairPrice Finest Sengkang Grand Mall are digital price cards which remove the need for physical labels and are part of FPG's wider sustainability efforts. At the same time, digital labels automatically update themselves with any changes to pricing or promotions, reducing the need for manual work, allowing staff to focus on other tasks. If successful, FPG will roll out digital price cards across all supermarket touchpoints within the next three years. FPG is also looking to launch other AI-enabled initiatives focused on improving workflow for staff and customers, such as Vision AI which incorporates data analytics. Vision AI "leverages existing in-store CCTV infrastructure and advanced video analytics to provide real-time updates to staff on where support or intervention is required throughout the store", according to the press release. For example, it can detect potential safety hazards such as spills or obstructions to facilitate a safer shopping environment. The queue management feature is also able to monitor and analyse queue wait times, alerting staff when more manpower is needed to manage the high volume of shoppers at checkout. "Through our Store of Tomorrow programme, we want to re-imagine how innovation and technologies like Gen AI and data analytics can make things easier on the wallet and experience for both physical and digital retail formats," said Chawla. [[nid:718264]]

Straits Times
30-05-2025
- Straits Times
Firm behind wireless alert buzzer for seniors wins DBS award; device coming to more rental flats
The button lets seniors – particularly those living alone or without family support – reach emergency services with a single press. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH Firm behind wireless alert buzzer for seniors wins DBS award; device coming to more rental flats SINGAPORE – A local firm has clinched a contract potentially worth more than $50 million to extend its emergency buzzer system for seniors to 170 additional rental blocks over the next five years, after a successful pilot since 2019. The wall-mounted, wireless red button lets seniors – particularly those living alone or without family support – reach emergency services with a single push. The expanded roll-out is part of a second contract awarded to Singapore-based tech firm iWow Technology in early 2025 by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) to procure wireless alert devices for more seniors in Housing Board rental flats over the next five years. The devices are developed by Buddy of Parents (BOP) – a subsidiary company of iWow – which on May 29 received a $1 million grant under DBS Foundation's Impact Beyond Award for its efforts to support seniors and caregivers through smart technology. The award will support the development of new products and the firm's outreach to vulnerable seniors and international growth, said BOP executive director Chen Jer Yaw. Mr Chen said: 'As part of the grant, there are milestones that we will have to hit, such as the number of people (who will benefit from) our products and services... We are committed to fulfilling these milestones and to support more seniors.' The company will focus on the distribution of emergency buzzers for HDB, which is expanding its initiative to provide wireless alert devices to seniors. Some 36,800 seniors aged 60 and above are expected to have the devices installed for free by 2030, according to a spokesperson in a joint statement by HDB and GovTech. As at February, at least 10,000 seniors living in 50 public rental blocks have had the wireless devices installed, the spokesperson added. Seniors with older models will soon receive a new device, which has improved durability and performance. Each BOP button is connected to a 24-hour hotline, giving vulnerable seniors, especially those who live alone or lack family support, a way to seek help in life-and-death situations. (From left) BOP executive director and iWow senior vice-president Chen Jer Yaw, iWow CEO and executive director Raymond Bo and iWow chief marketing officer Ashokan Ramakrishnan with the new wireless alarm system for seniors. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH The alert alarm devices have been triggered around 20,200 times since the system's roll-out to rental flats in November 2019, according to HDB and GovTech. Roughly 1,600 required emergency help, while the rest were non-urgent calls or accidental presses , they said . The button is an upgrade of an older pull-cord system, which seniors use to activate an alarm at their block's void deck to alert people in the vicinity or an active ageing centre during working hours. The new devices come with better batteries that exceed five years, and two-way voice calling for users to speak to operators over the phone. They are also resistant to water and dust – a requirement under GovTech's tender – so the devices can be placed reliably in bathrooms, where the risk of falls is higher. Announced by iWow in February, the contract with GovTech includes the option to purchase its fall detector module and portable alert device over the next 10 years. BOP's catalogue of devices includes a wall-mounted infrared scanner with image-recognition software to tell when someone has fallen and is in need of assistance. The DBS Foundation also gave the Impact Beyond Award to three other businesses, which are tackling urgent needs among ageing residents, from nearly 100 submissions worldwide. One of them is Hong Kong's Evercare Health – a health tech platform which developed a mobile app for patients and caregivers to schedule appointments, contact staff members and make payment. The award will support the firm's development of artificial intelligence-powered medical notes to improve the efficiency of healthcare services. Another award recipient is India's Life Circle Health Services, which operates a mobile app that connects families with trained caregivers based on their needs. DBS has disbursed $21.5 million in grant funding to more than 160 social enterprises and recipients since 2015. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Business Times
22-05-2025
- Business Times
Launch of sustainability disclosure tool to simplify SMEs' reporting efforts
[SINGAPORE] Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore may be able to simplify their sustainability reporting efforts, with the launch of a disclosure tool by sustainability reporting and data platform company Gprnt on Thursday (May 22). After Singapore companies retrieve utilities data using their corporate digital identity known as Corppass, the tool will then automatically convert the data to reflect the amount of emissions arising from their operations (Scope 1), or those from their purchase of electricity (Scope 2). The platform retrieves four data points – three of which are related to a company's carbon footprint. These are their water, town gas and electricity usage, which are sourced from the relevant government agencies, namely, national water agency PUB and the Energy Market Authority. The fourth data point is revenue. The tool's ability to retrieve data from the government comes after Gprnt's integration with the Government Technology Agency of Singapore's Myinfo business service, which allows Singapore-registered businesses to share and retrieve their corporate data with participating organisations after consent is given. The integration of the disclosure tool with government data comes about six months after Gprnt unveiled its range of decarbonisation solutions. Addressing the lack of credible ESG data The commercial company was launched in 2023 as a spinoff from Project Greenprint, an initiative by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, to develop solutions that could help address the lack of credible environmental, social and governance data that financiers could use for sustainable financing. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 12.30 pm ESG Insights An exclusive weekly report on the latest environmental, social and governance issues. Sign Up Sign Up It received S$6 million in seed funding from digital payments company Ant International and Japanese bank MUFG. The latest disclosure tool is provided for free to SMEs, but Lionel Wong, executive director of Gprnt, told The Business Times that it is currently engaging with large corporates, financial institutions and government agencies to work out how these entities can access these data on a chargeable basis. 'It is actually beneficial to these large corporates and financial institutions to have more trusted data on their supply and value chain, because otherwise it's very difficult for them to properly calculate their own emissions footprint and deliver on their own net-zero transition plans if they don't have good data,' said Wong. '(They) pay for the disclosure licence so that they can be an end point on the Gprnt infrastructure, and somebody who is disclosing granular and verifiable information on Gprnt can transmit that information to the paying recipient,' he added. Speaking at the launch event on the same day, OCBC chief sustainability officer Mike Ng said the lender can now obtain credible data of companies they finance through Gprnt, without needing to manually obtain copies of their utility bills. The data is used by the bank to determine if a company is eligible for green or sustainability-linked loans (SLL). 'As you can imagine, it is very laborious, requires a lot of time, a lot of effort. And the critical issue is that it's very prone to errors, especially if we are dealing with many, many SMEs in our case,' said Ng. The emissions data via Gprnt can also be used by OCBC to track how clients are performing against the sustainability performance targets they have set for their SLLs. Beyond Singapore While MUFG's customers outside of Japan are mainly large corporations, its head of ESG finance Colin Chen said that emissions data from SMEs would eventually become part of the Scope 3 emissions of large corporations, which refer to indirect emissions resulting from their supply chain. He added that a partnership between the private sector and government was needed to develop an ecosystem where credible data is easily generated and accessible, which was part of the reason why MUFG decided to be one of Gprnt's seed investors. Given that this disclosure tool is backed by regulators in Singapore, Chen said the bank was able to go to its partner banks in other Asean markets to discuss expanding the platform beyond the city-state. To this end, Gprnt's Wong said the intention was always for the platform to be cross-deployable to other markets and not constrained to Singapore. He added that the company is currently pursuing 'similar engagements in other markets that we go into, so far as that data exists and the infrastructure exists', though he declined to reveal the markets. Further down the road, Gprnt is also looking to incorporate Scope 3 emissions data into its platform.